Confessions of an e-book bum

Turning up the heat on the romance

Now that I’ve warmed up the blog with a little romance, I’ll continue down that path into a little raunchier fare. “The Housewife Assassin’s Handbook” by Josie Brown is billed as “a funny romantic mystery.” It’s still free on Amazon at the time of this post, as an introductory book in the Housewife Assassin series. Regular price is listed at just 99 cents.

Although like most of the free books I’ve read thus far on Kindle (there’s a saying that beggars can’t be choosers, and I suppose it applies to those who thrive on free e-books), it wasn’t a book I normally would have read, this has been one of my more enjoyable excursions outside the normal limits of my reading thus far.

Part over-the-top comedy, part trashy romance, part thriller, I found this book shocking in a good way. If you are easily offended, this is not the book for you. This is not the type of book that will find you lost in another world – it’s far too unbelievable for that. You will not identify with the laugh-out-loud outrageous characters, or recognize them as the type of people you see in your neighborhood (not the main ones, at least, although minor characters, like the neighborhood slut, maybe). But it is possible that, like me, you might connect with Donna Stone, the heroine, enough to at least be curious as to what happens to her beyond the pages of this first novel. Which is obviously what Brown (or her publisher) hopes will happen by offering this first novel for free or at least at a steep discount from the regular market price of the further books in the series.

And while the scenarios may be too far-fetched to relate to your own life, it is possible that laughing at the ludicrous concepts of juggling life as a mother and homemaker as well as secret-agent and assassin will help you find other things in your own daily life to laugh about, as well.

I’m becoming a much more adventurous reader as I find opportunities to explore books with no real obligations. It’s so freeing to be able to try a new title without even having to worry about returning it in any way. And when I stumble across opportunities such as “The Housewife Assassin’s Handbook,” it only leads me further down the path of addiction, because I know this is a book I likely would not have read in any other scenario.

As for the future, I’m definitely considering purchasing further books in the series at some point to find out what’s happening with the lady who is definitely my favorite assassin.